


Cause and Effect

by Mossgreen



Series: 2770 ab urbe condita [53]
Category: 2770 ab urbe condita - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Master/Slave, POV First Person, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 00:30:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19051600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mossgreen/pseuds/Mossgreen
Summary: Continuing the series of articles written by one Drusus Varius Metellus. - Rewards and punishments(First-person perspective, opinions herein are those of a fictional character!)





	Cause and Effect

**Author's Note:**

> This is in the first person, I do not condone the views stated by the (fictional) author of this piece.

_salvēte, lēctores_!

We return to this occasional series with a look at training, rewarding and disciplining your slaves. Any slave who has been in servitude for longer than a year will be considered to be at least partially trained, although they will most likely require further training in order to fulfil the specific role in your house for which you have bought them. Even if a slave is fully trained for that role, their training will require polishing because you have your own particular ways of doing things and running your household. Any slave purchased must learn your preferred way of doing things, but only you, as the master, will be able to say what constitutes a perfectly trained slave. You may wish everything to be perfect all the time, or ‘good enough is good enough’ - but your slaves have no say in this and must comply with your wishes.

A note: It has been pointed out to me that I refer to ‘he/him’ most often when talking about owners and slaves. This is not to show any disrespect to the mistresses who read this column but because my household is a male-dominated one, and also because writing ‘boys/girls’ and ‘he/she’ interrupts the flow. I do make the effort to switch the gender of those I am speaking of, but everything here is as relevant to mistresses as masters and girls as well as boys.

 **Your desired goal**  
Your goal, in rewarding and punishing your slaves, is to promote a peaceful household. You do not want to encourage bickering and quarrelling among your slaves, even in the privacy of their quarters - what occurs there will spill out into the rest of the house, sooner or later.

You want to be fair and even-handed, and reward and punish at the same level (although not necessarily in the exact same way, if that will not work) for the same misdemeanours no matter who commits them.

You wish to be the consummate pater- or materfamilias: fair, considerate. You are judge and magistrate for your slaves and they should expect a fair judgement when they come to you with their problems - do not allow them to bring every niggle, but you should certainly allow them to bring their more serious complaints. They have absolutely no right to demand that you be fair, of course, which is all the more reason for you to be as fair as possible.

 **Training**  
I personally do not buy brand-new slaves, I prefer them to have some semblance of training when they enter my house, which will render them a useful return for my money far quicker. If you prefer to buy unbroken nexi or rei (I cannot recommend buying an unbroken reus, however cute and appealing he looks), there are specialist training houses where you may send them, for a fee. The cost will depend on the level of training you require, and how long that will take - and naturally the better and more reputable establishments cost more. The average length of stay at one of these is about three months, and you will be expected to inspect the establishment and speak with the trainers, who will want to know what sort of service the slave will be expected to perform, the level you wish him trained to, and your personal standard for how things should be carried out (‘good enough is good enough’ or it must be flawless every time?). They will generally give a good basic foundation that will be refined after the slave moves into your household and gets to know you.

When training a slave in a new role, you should make the duties of that role crystal clear and ensure the slave has understood them - you will not want him to be able to plead ignorance. Keep your rules short and simple, make your slave repeat them back to you in his own words, and reiterate them at intervals, especially if his behaviour begins to slip (there will be more on this below). You should go through your rules in person with every slave entering your house; there will be no uncertainty or miscommunication as there might be if the slave only heard them from the steward or another of the household slaves. You will want your slave to have the best start on entering your household as possible.

You will want to meet every new slave in person, whether you purchased them directly or through an authorised intermediary such as your household steward. Any intermediary will need to know your standards of expected behaviour and what role you expect the new slave to fulfil. If you are looking to purchase a concubīnus, you will want to make that transaction yourself, in person, so that you get exactly what you want, as no matter how well you describe your requirements, nobody else can be guaranteed to find precisely the right slave. Also, by looking yourself, you will be able to spot that one unprepossessing but intriguing boy at the back that your intermediary will overlook because he has the wrong hair colour, or some such thing. You are by far the best person to judge what it on offer compared to what you want from the slave you buy.

For more information on purchasing a slave, please see the previous instalment in this series.

 **The carrot: Rewarding your slaves**  
Initially, of course, you will not know your slaves well enough to tailor a reward to each individual. Your household steward must be taught (and authorised) to note behaviour that should be rewarded, and should know their inferiors well enough to be able to suggest a suitable reward. Where this is more than merely an extra few asses of pecūlium, or a pastry, you should ensure that you are present at the giving of such a reward, even if you do not choose to give it yourself.

For your slaves, even noticing and remarking that they have done a regular job particularly well can constitute a reward; they are generally ignored (as they should be), although they should be doing their best every day. It is a fact of life, however, that there are times that the best is sometimes simply better than other times.

Noticing and commenting when things are done well will lead to your slaves wanting that recognition again and will help to prevent that unnoticeably slow, but sure and steady, decline into mediocrity. It If your slaves are aware that you notice things, whether or not you comment on them, they will strive to achieve that level all the time. This is not to say that you should ignore things that are not up to standard, of course; those should be pointed out every time. But the occasional word of compliment will do more than ten words of censure - your slaves are human, after all.

As for actual rewards for individuals, of course you will wish to reward your senior slaves yourself. They are the ones who will notice the imperfections of the junior slaves’ work and will insist it is done over to your standard before you see it. The senior slaves, especially your steward, are those who bring especially deserving slaves to you for reward, and bring to your notice those who should be punished beyond what you have authorised the seniors to administer.

Where your senior slaves should be watching the juniors for things well done, you should take notice of the work your senior slaves do, and reward them (or punish them) yourself, as appropriate. 

How you choose to reward is down to you, no one thing will fit every master, or slave, or situation. 

In some households where refined sugar is limited or banned in the slaves’ diet, a suitable reward might be a pastry for an especially well-deserving slave, or a serving of sugar for them to add to their breakfast. (A word here: I would think very carefully when considering such dietary restrictions and rewards.)

Your bed-slave may be rewarded more physically, with affection, or simply by addressing him (or her) as ‘pet’ rather than the ‘boy’ that is standard address for all male slaves (or ‘girl’ for female slaves, of course). Simply running your fingers through your pet’s hair as he kneels beside your chair is soothing for both master and pet, and you may quickly grasp the hair, or tap the head, to direct his attention where you wish. 

More personal rewards include other treats - trashy novels for the slave who enjoys such things (so long as his reading does not interrupt or interfere with his duties), or additional clothing items, such as patterned leggings rather than plain to be worn when colder weather strikes, if the slave’s livery or duties permit.

Extra peculium rarely goes amiss, of course, but you should be aware of what the slave may wish to purchase with it. If it is not something you would normally allow, they should be dissuaded. A music player is an item you could allow to be purchased, but the slave must naturally be made aware of the severe consequences that will result if they are found using it when fulfilling any front-of-house duties they may have.

If slaves are allowed small items of value, such as a personal music player, you should provide lockers so that they may be locked away when not in use. 

**Expected behaviour**  
I cannot list all the good and bad behaviours I have witnessed in slaves over the years!

Slaves should be polite. They should always address their owner as ‘Master’ or ‘Mistress’ as appropriate, and address any free people as directed by their owner. They relate to the world through their owner, they should not make the first move in approaching anyone (especially a free person) without permission or an order, to pass on a message, for example. They should always ask permission to leave the master’s presence once in it, unless the master initiates and dismisses the slave. 

I have covered this elsewhere, but it bears repeating. They should not push themselves forward - in fact, they should not wish to come to the attention of any free person other than their master. For all intents and purposes, they should be as silent and anonymous as the furniture until their services are wanted. 

They should stand or kneel in the presence of the free, depending on the situation. They should never have the audacity to sit unless sitting is required as part of their role (a secretary sitting at a computer) and then they should be as anonymous as they can, standing if a free person addresses them or otherwise acknowledges them directly. 

**Discipline (the stick)**  
There is as great a variety of punishments as there is rewards, for much the same reason. You are limited by your imagination, but the punishment should never exceed the deed being punished. You do not want to line the entire household up to watch a severe whipping just because your tunic was not ironed properly. The withdrawal of affection should be your very first line of discipline - a disappointed look and verbal chastisement should be warning enough for the slave to correct his behaviour, especially if he used to hearing you address him fondly.

A simple smack or slap, administered carefully, should bring him up sharp and be enough to make him think. Catching the slave in a lie requires short, sharp, immediate correction, for example, although if lying is an ingrained habit, careful training and a system of rewards (for truth-telling) and escalating punishments (for lying) should eventually break them of the habit. 

Your household steward should be authorised to administer low-level physical punishments for infractions that he sees but that are too small to bring to your attention. Six with a medium strap is a reasonable level to allow him, and most slaves who have been in servitude for a year or more will not think of it as punishment but as chastisement yet it will serve to correct their behaviour. The senior authorised to carry out such corrections must report them to you, although it is not severe enough to be required to be added to the slave’s record.

If it escalates beyond a punishment your steward can administer, you should step in yourself. Coming to the attention of the master for a breach of discipline should be a thing to dread, and you should take such infractions seriously.

Physical punishments with an implement such as a whip, heavy flogger or cane, or severe punishments that result in the slave’s not being able to sit comfortably, or to lie on their back, must be added to their record, with a brief explanation as to why it was administered.

I recommend punishing slaves in front of those who witnessed their misdemeanours. If a slave was impudent, he must be made to apologise to all free persons present, either before the punishment commences or after its completion.

If a slave is to be chastised physically, you should give a period of contemplation before and afterwards, either or both of which should be with the implement present where he can see or feel it (standing in the corner with a flogger draped around his neck, or kneeling on the floor with the cane in front of him, for example). As well as carrying out the actual punishment, I will put the slave in a position of contemplation where others can see him and learn from the marks left afterwards.

Once the punishment (which includes the contemplation) is over, you should restore the slave to his usual place in your home (and affections, if the slave is your bed-slave or otherwise close to you emotionally). You should not bring that misdemeanour up again.

There are four questions you should ask yourself when a punishment is required, either beforehand or afterward, especially if this is the very first time this slave has messed up, or if she keeps making the same errors continuously. One should also be aware of any health issues.  
Did I purchase the right slave for this role?  
Is he trained correctly?  
Is he being correctly supervised?  
Am I using the right rewards and punishments for this slave?

If you have entirely the wrong slave for the tasks assigned, can he be better used if assigned elsewhere? It is better to try a reassignment than to immediately phone the local slave dealer to say you have a slave for sale.

Does he have the correct training for the role he is in? Is he a fully trained slave - you would be perhaps surprised at the number of owners who have partially broken-in slaves in roles best filled by those who have been in servitude for twice the time.

Is he correctly supervised - does his senior slave know of this shortcoming or the reason for this mistake? Is the senior, perhaps, terrorising those under him?

If you are not rewarding this slave in a way he can appreciate, or punishing him in a way, and for reasons, he can understand, any punishment and discipline will be ineffective and you will eventually end up with a slave afraid of his own shadow never mind his master.

The punishment should fit the misdemeanour. I have a friend who punishes verbal impudence by making the slave wear a baby’s soother pinned to their tunic by a ribbon, and having them suck it as a gag. His thinking is that if the slave cannot speak responsibly, then they should be treated as a child who cannot speak at all. One almost expects young children to talk back; adult slaves should know better. (Slaves are not dissimilar to children, after all, having no legal autonomy of their own and relating to the world through their master or mistress as a child does through his parents. They are also frequently addressed as 'Girl!' or 'Boy!' - you will have done so yourself, of course - and more than once!) The physical reminder of not being able to speak, and the humiliation of being gagged thus means that impudence is (as it should be) rarely encountered in his house and that the slaves’ punishment is directly suited to the crime. 

Simple nudity can be an effective punishment, in the right circumstances. That slaves are clothed more often than they go naked can lead to the unfortunate situation where they come to expect to be clothed as a matter of course. Being clothed is a privilege which you may rescind at any time, especially when the slave begins to take clothing (and the other things you provide) for granted. Be aware of various environmental factors that play into whether or not this is a suitable punishment: if it is too cold, you cannot keep the slave naked for long unless the house is sufficiently warm. Likewise, you cannot send a slave outside nude in the heat of an African summer (not without a lot of sun-cream, at least, and a suitable sunhat.).

There are certain situations where slaves are expected to strip as a matter of course, as part of the condition of being slaves. Slaves arriving into any airport from outside the Empire, for example, or arrival into Rome, Alexandria or certain other places from any of the provinces will be made to strip by the airport officials.

Whatever the error and the punishment, whatever the slave, you should not be vindictive. You have all the power here, the slave has none. If you award a corporal punishment with a period of contemplation, you should likewise use that time to think, going over the four questions set out above, and calming yourself - you should never administer any punishment, especially a physical one, while angry.

If you have used your time well, and come to the conclusion that you were angry and over-hasty, you are perfectly at liberty to then forgive the slave without following through - the threat was there, and the household know that you are not afraid to wield the flogger (or cane or paddle or whatever instrument you chose) and yet you will not do so unjustly or in anger.

**Sale: The end of the road**

You may find, for whatever reason, that one particular slave keeps disobeying you. (If they all do, you should take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror and investigate some training for yourself in how to be a good master!) It might be simple personality clashes with others in the house, it might be any of a number of things. You have a couple of options: Send the slave to a training or retraining facility, being clear on whether you want the slave back or whether they are to be sold on from the centre, or simply sell the slave outright.

Slaves sold outright via a dealer will not fetch the best price and the dealer will take a cut of it anyway, but a dealer will be better than trying to sell a damaged or disobedient slave privately. A training centre will charge you for the time spent with the slave (if you want him back) or will give you outright his market value, but will probably make a profit when they come to put him back on the market. That is their job, after all.

Who knows, however, whether the threat of sale might not have the desire that all the punishments devised could not, and make the slave’s behaviour improve beyond recognition. It has been known to happen, and if the slave’s improved behaviour is a permanent one, that is better by far than having to begin all over again with a new purchase.

 

 **Recommended reading**  
_The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Slave Ownership_ by M. Junius Polybius and Gn. Castus Longinus (eds), Iron Hand Press, 2 ses  
_Principles of Effective Household Management_ by D. Victorinus Crescens and Tullia Petra (with Gratus, D Victorino Crescens servus)  
_Rewards and Discipline: Effective Methods for Training Slaves_ by Ti. Flavius Iucundus, Catenis Books, 3 ses  
_How Slaves Think: The Psychology of Human Property_ by Rufilla Salvia, Athene Press, 3 ses  
_Obedience Training for New Slaves: Guiding reluctant slaves into service_ by L. Caprenuis Martinus and Fl. Caeparius Crassus, Danae Press, 2 ses  
_The Carrot and the Stick: Easy and effective ways to discipline your slaves_ by G. Tullius Afer, Catenis Books, 3 ses

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:  
>  _salvēte, lēctores_ \- Greetings, readers  
>  _paterfamilias_ / _materfamilias_ \- literally the father/mother of the family, the head of the household, which included the slaves  
>  _nexi_ \- plural of nexus (feminine nexa, pl nexae), a person enslaved for debt  
>  _rei_ \- plural of reus (feminine rea, plural reae), a person sentenced to slavery by the court  
>  _concubīnus_ \- male bed-slave, male sex-slave  
>  _pecūlium_ \- a slave's savings, usually saved up to buy his freedom


End file.
